lundi 20 mai 2013

Census analysis shows Christianity in dramatic decline, and a youthful Muslim population on the rise

Posted: Fri, 17 May 2013

According to census data analysis
published yesterday, the number of British-born Christians is falling
significantly, whilst the number of young Muslims is on the rise.

The
figures suggest Christianity is in long-term decline in the UK; there
are 5.3 million fewer British-born people describing themselves as
Christians, representing a decline of 15% in just a decade, despite a
growth in the overall population, calling into question the
establishment of the Church of England.

Notably, the
proportion of young people who describe themselves as even nominal
Christians has dropped below half for the first time. Younger people
also drove a shift away from religion altogether, with 6.4 million more
people describing themselves as having no religion than 10 years
earlier.

Whilst initial results from the 2011 census,
published last year, showed that the total number of people in England
and Wales who described themselves as Christian fell by 4.1 million,
equaling a decline of 10%, this figure masked the fact that for
British-born Christians the decline was even larger. This is because the
figures had been bolstered by 1.2 million foreign born Christians,
including Polish Christians and evangelical Christians from places such
as Nigeria.

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director
of the National Secular Society, commented: "Realistically, this trend
is irreversible, and the number has dropped below critical mass for
which there is no longer any justification for an established Church".

Whilst
there has been a drop in those subscribing to the Christian faith, the
number of Muslims in England and Wales has surged by 75% – boosted by
almost 600,000 more foreign born followers of the Islamic faith. While
almost half of British Muslims are under the age of 25, almost a quarter
of Christians are over 65. The average age of a British Muslim is just
25, not far off half that of a British Christian.

David Coleman, Professor of Demography at the University of Oxford, told The Times
that the findings showed how Christianity was declining with each
generation. "Each large age group, as time progresses, receives less
inculcation into Christianity than its predecessor ten years earlier,"
he said.

Professor Coleman contrasted the decline of
the Christian faith through the generations with what happens among
Muslims. "We have a Muslim faith where most studies suggest adherence to
Islam is not only transmitted through the generations but appears to
get stronger," he said. "Indeed, there seems to be some evidence that
the second generation Muslims in Britain are more Muslim than their
parents."

A spokesman for the Church of England
acknowledged: "One of the reasons may well be fewer people identifying
as 'cultural Christians', that is those who have no active involvement
with churches and who may previously have identified as Christian for
cultural or historical reasons.

Terry Sanderson,
President of the National Secular Society, said that the Church was well
aware of its parlous position which is why it is so anxious to
reinforce its position in education; "The early indoctrination of
children is very important for the continuation of any religion," he
said. "Christians know this and Muslims know it. The Church of England
has far more primary schools under its control than secondary ones. It
knows it needs to start the process earlier in order to keep people in
the fold.

"Muslim clerics also know that early
indoctrination is essential, which explains the widespread use of
madrassas – which, if we are honest, are little more than brainwashing
institutions. There is little wonder that young Muslims are more
religious than their parents with such heavy-handed, inescapable
religious propaganda being forced on them."

Mr
Sanderson said that the institutionalisation of secularism should now be
an urgent priority for this government. "Within a few generations we
are going to have a battle for supremacy between religions, and the
non-religious are being further marginalised despite being a growing
group. For the safety of us all we need to ensure that no religion can
take control of the state again."

Key points

• In 2011, Christianity had the oldest age profile of the main religious groups.

• The number of Christians has fallen and this was largely for people aged under 60.

•
The number of people with no religion has increased across all age
groups, particularly for those aged 20 to 24 and the 40 to 44.

•
In England and Wales, over nine in ten Christians (93%) were White and
nine in ten (89%) were born in the UK, though the numbers have fallen
since 2001.

• Nearly four in ten Muslims (38%)
reported their ethnicity as Pakistani, a 371,000 increase (from 658,000
to over a million) since 2001. Nearly half of all Muslims were born in
the UK.

• The majority of people with no religion were White (93%) and born in the UK (93%)

and these groups have increased since 2001.

•
People with no religion had the highest proportion of people who were
economically active, Christians and Muslims the lowest. Jewish people
had the highest level of employment and Muslim people the highest level
of unemployment.

• The main reason for Christians
being economically inactive was retirement, for Muslims economic
inactivity was mainly because they were students, or because they were
looking after the home or family.